Welcome to this week's Top 7, where the DEV editorial team handpicks their favorite posts from the previous week.

Congrats to all the authors that made it onto the list 👏

@tlorent explores the common career crossroads developers face when choosing between technical expertise and people leadership. They emphasize that this choice isn't permanent and encourage developers to experiment with both paths while staying honest about what gives them energy and the impact they want to have.

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@bekahhw examines how well-intentioned givers can become organizational bottlenecks and shares five design principles for creating sustainable reciprocity systems. They demonstrate how to transform individual expertise into scalable organizational capability through documentation, progressive responsibility frameworks, and more.

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@besworks addresses the confusion around getting started with Web Components by providing a clear technical foundation for understanding Custom Elements.

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@linkbenjamin challenges traditional employee recognition approaches by arguing that trust shown through autonomy is more powerful than after-the-fact rewards. They share personal experiences showing how visible trust before achievements can be more motivating than recognition after success, suggesting leaders focus on empowering rather than controlling.

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@nickytonline provides a technical deep-dive into Astro's Server Islands pattern, explaining how it allows dynamic content to render on-demand without blocking page load.

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@cosmomyzrailgorynych introduces Whimsy, a browser-based game engine designed for creating interactive storytelling games without complex coding. They explain how their Bitsy-inspired tool uses node-based visual programming, works across all devices, and aims to make narrative game creation accessible to writers, educators, and artists.

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@sydseter announces the release of OWASP Cornucopia 2.2 and shares how the Copi game engine was born from a weekend bet, growing to nearly 10,000 monthly users. They provide deployment instructions for organizations wanting to self-host the security card game and highlight upcoming demonstrations at OWASP 2025 Global AppSec EU.

And that's a wrap for this week's Top 7 roundup! 🎬 We hope you enjoyed this eclectic mix of insights, stories, and tips from our talented authors. Keep coding, keep learning, and stay tuned to DEV for more captivating content and make sure you’re opted in to our Weekly Newsletter 📩 for all the best articles, discussions, and updates.